


Parchment-Cambrione: Explore The Hospital

by RedKingRaymond



Category: Parchment-Cambrione: Explore The Hospital
Genre: Adventure, Blood and Gore, Clover Church, Clover Cult, Cults, Death, Horror, Hospital, Murder, Parchment-Cambrione Hospital - Freeform, Rituals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:34:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28194795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedKingRaymond/pseuds/RedKingRaymond
Summary: Different stories in different times, all about a few of those who ventured into an old, abandoned hospital and never came out.





	1. The Lance Run

October 28, 2016: 

The hospital still stood, after almost a century, nobody dared to take it down. It had become even more of a local legend, which meant that people would visit it. For now, let’s observe one of the more unlucky ones who dared to explore the inside of the hospital. 

Lance Veers, 22 years old. He’s a blogger with fiery, attention-getting hair and a vest to hold his supplies in. He likes adventure and shows off wherever he goes. He wouldn’t be able to guess that once he entered the building, he would never be able to explore the outside world again. 

He was standing outside, just staring up at the hospital while holding his camera, getting what he thought were ‘nice shots’ for his audience. The sun was setting and he advanced to the entrance- a large set of glass doors that were cracked and had questionable stains on them. He pushed one open and got inside, shaking from the pure joy of being inside the hospital as he filmed the interior of the lobby with his camera. He didn’t even notice that the entrance was gone. He did notice the shadowy figure in the corner of the room, behind the front desk. 

His heart jumped and he almost stopped filming. He swung his camera towards the figure and smiled because of how smart he thought he was. The only problem was that there was no figure even showing up on the screen. Frowning, he turned around and collided with what he thought was a giant skeleton. He yelped in surprise and fear, nearly losing his footing and falling onto the ground. He looked up at what, or who, he’d bumped into, when his phone was taken from his hands. 

“Hey, give that back!” He yelled. 

Then, a loud crack and the sound of the phone, now more like pieces of a phone, falling and clattering on the ground. The shadowy thing spoke as Lance angled his head upwards to see what the creature looked like, it was taller than anybody he had ever seen.

“No photography or videos,” it said. “Who are you?”

Lance choked a bit on air and fear as the creature leaned down. It was tall, taller than a normal human should be, and wore a long black robe that looked a bit ragged. It also had big waves of hair that were as dark as it’s robe and flowed in messy waves and pieces that stuck out everywhere. Its skin was pale, like it was painted white, and it’s eyes were weird and hollow. It looked like a sick, wan, corpse of a man who was plucked from an old black & white photograph; Lance couldn’t see a smidge of colour on him. 

“I asked you a question.” He spoke again. “Who are you? Answer in specifics, I already know that you’re another moronic explorer.” 

Lance was still choking on his own breath. He had never actually had any experience with the paranormal, despite him bragging about how cool it would be and all of the things he’d do with a ghost and/or cryptid. He was terrified, trembling. He mustered some courage and answered, feeling like if he answered then the man would be kinder. 

“I-I’m Lance Veers.” He gulped, eyes darting around in an attempt to not make eye contact with the man who still towered above him. “I run a blog and explore places-”

“Oh, you’re one of those types of humans.” The man interrupted him. “What is your business here?”

Lance wondered if he was supposed to feel offended at the man's remark but decided that he was too confused and scared to dwell on it. 

“I wanted to explore this hospital, it has a very… Interesting history.” Lance kept looking around as he answered, finally noticing that the front doors were gone and now knowing that he didn’t have too many options of escape. “W-who are y-you?”

He felt a burst of confidence but also a large amount of panic as he used the question that the man asked him against him. The man wasted no time and his voice was still nearly monotone as he spoke. It was low, chilling but somehow relaxing in a strange way, and it made Lance wonder if the man would let him escape or if he’d be killed on the spot. 

“I am Tim.” The man straightened his back and he was now even taller than Lance, but he still was looking down at him as Lance looked up at him. He almost reached the ceiling. “I’m the caretaker of this hospital. You shouldn’t have come here, child.”

Lance nearly passed out from shock at seeing the man at his full height again, he was just that intimidating from height alone. 

“I-I’m not a child.” Lance composed himself, the title of ‘child’ being given to him was suddenly embarrassing. “I’m 22.”

“Interesting,” Tim replied. “Would you like a tour?”

Lance was struck by confusion by the question. A tour? Tim looked like a Halloween monster and was offering him a tour of the hospital? Did he want to help him escape or was he just leading him to his doom? Lance would’ve felt horrible if he said no, not because he didn’t want to reject Tim’s offer for a tour but because he felt like Tim would kill him if he rejected the offer. 

“Y-yeah sure!” He answered the question with a bit too much excitement that he soon regretted.

Tim smiled, which surprised Lance. He didn’t know that the man had any other expression other than half-lidded eyes and a bored looking mouth (how a mouth could look like it was bored, we aren’t sure) and actually felt a bit more at ease at seeing a somewhat human emotion displayed on the thin, ghoulish mans face. 

“Follow me, Lance.” Tim said, turning around. “You can clearly see that this is the lobby: it has a front desk, waiting room, and a few doors. The one at the back leads to a part of the building that you don’t need to see-”

“What is it?” Lance interrupted Tim, his boisterous nature coming back to him slowly. “If you can, you should show me what’s back there.”

“I’m afraid I can’t.” Tim replied. “It wouldn’t approve, especially because you’re just a human- and not even one with an interesting profession.”

“Aw man…” He normally would’ve tried to annoy Tim or do something else to get him to show him the back rooms of the first floor, but he felt like if he tried something then something bad would’ve happened to him. He didn’t want to test Tim’s patience too early on. “What are the other doors for?”

Tim still had a small smile, he enjoyed giving tours and talking about things that he liked- especially the hospital. He loved it even more when he didn’t have to explain most of the history in an over-the-top, cliche way. He didn’t like dramatic ghost stories, or ghost stories in general. 

“The door closest to that blank wall leads to the basement, you don’t want to go down there yet.” Tim gestured to the door, which was made of rotting wood. “The other door leads to the elevator room.”

“What the hell’s an elevator room?” 

“Calm yourself, I’ll show you.” He opened the rusty door.

The room was a small, empty room with an elevator door on the other side. The elevator looked almost new, just slightly vintage. Tim looked at Lance

“Oh.” Lance began to walk towards the elevator. “That makes sense.”

“Are you sure that you want to go up so soon?” Tim questioned him. 

“Only if you come with me,” Lance smiled as he replied. “It would be a pretty bad tour if the guide didn’t actually guide me.”

Tim’s smile remained, it felt genuine, and he followed Lance to the elevator. They entered it and rode up to the next floor. 

The elevator opened and they were greeted with the sight of a basic hospital layout. There were rooms on each side and it looked like a normal hallway in a hospital. However, the floors were slightly bloodied and it all looked like it was abandoned after a disaster. This didn’t deter Lance, and he began exploring even before Tim could step out of the elevator. 

“We shouldn’t stay here for too long, friend.” Tim warned Lance in his low voice. 

Lance perked up at the nickname, it was better than ‘child’. He actually liked it a lot for some reason. 

“I won’t stick around here too long,” he replied. “F-friend.”

The nickname didn’t slide off the tongue as easily for Lance as it did for Tim, so he felt a bit awkward when he said it, but it still felt nice. He felt closer to the man than when they first met only a few minutes ago. 

“Okay, but I must tell you something,” Tim’s smile had faded, he felt despair growing in his heart at the realization that he would have to abandon another helpless human for the sake of the hospital- but he’d done this ritual so many times before and now it was just another part of the work for him. “You aren’t going to survive for long. I’m sorry, friend.”

Lance turned around, confusion and uneasiness filling him. The elevator was going down and Tim was gone. 

“Tim?” 

There was no answer. 

Lance felt panic build up inside of him along with nearly crippling anxiety and confusion as he realized that he had been left alone. He heard a sound in the near distance and tensed up. His first thought was to go to one of the rooms, so that was what he did. He moved quickly and as quietly as possible into the first room on the left. The old door creaked as he entered and once he was inside, he could smell blood and death. The room was horrific. There was a bed, the sheets and everything on it was soaked in blood and other substances. There was another room connected to the one he was in and the smell of death seeped through the cracks around the door. Lance gagged and exited the room as quickly as possible. 

He ran to the room across from that one and entered it. There was a gurney and a table on wheels that should’ve been stocked with surgical tools but only had a note on it. Lance walked cautiously over to it and picked up the note. It read:

‘Welcome to my land, stranger. I killed a nice red-haired lady in this room. Her hands were thin and pale with the prettiest acrylic nails! I hope to see you soon, whoever’s reading. - your friend Doctor Malachi ̶T̶o̶r̶k̶a̶n̶ Torquan.’

Lance set the note back down, confusing still bubbling inside him alongside panic. Part of him tried to say that this was just a joke or something but he knew that it was too disturbing to be a set-up or something. So many thoughts ran through his head: 

‘Who is the guy who wrote this note? Was he really so stupid that he couldn’t spell his last name correctly the first time? Why would he leave a note? How many people have been here?’

His eyes teared up. Then, he heard it.

Laughter. 

It wasn’t like giggling or chuckling- it was cackling. A high pitched cackling kind of laughter rang through the floor, muffled through the walls of the room that Lance was in. His breathing quickened and he desperately ran to the door. He opened it and ran past the other rooms, briefly peeking inside each one for possibly something that could be useful until he found a room with a set of lockers inside. He nearly leaped into the room and then to the lockers, where he slammed himself into one as he heard the laughter ring out again. He attempted to slow his breathing or at least make it quieter as he heard somebody say something that he couldn’t make out, followed by a laughter that wasn’t cackling. It was a mocking ‘AHAHAHAHAHAHA’ type of laughter that wasn’t born from naturally laughing, but from wanting to mock somebody who thinks that they’re right. He almost held his breath in that locker as he hoped that he wouldn’t meet whoever this ‘Malachi’ person was. 

He heard the door open and he almost died on the spot. 

There was giggling, giggling, and the cracking of joints. The tapping of footsteps that sounded like a solid metal hitting the floor filled the empty space between the giggling and cracking. 

“I know that you're here.”

The sounds ceased and Lance’s heart almost did the same when he heard them speak. Their voice sounded almost deranged. If sadistic was a sound, it would be that voice. He didn’t make a sound and he heard them speak again. 

“I put these lockers here for a purpose- they lure the people here and then they hide and think that they’re smart but then I get them.” They spoke in a bone chilling tone that seemed so erratic. “You should come out now, hiding won’t help you in the long run.”

Lance closed his eyes for a minute as everything went silent. As the time passed, relief began to wash over him. ‘He had to have left,’ he thought as he exhaled a bit too loudly. He opened his eyes, feeling slightly more tired than he did when he first entered the room. The locker door swung open and a man stood before him. Lance's breath caught in his throat. 

“I knew you’d be in here!” The man yelled and grabbed Lance. 

Lance screamed in fear and struggled to get out of the man’s grip. He got loose but was grabbed again. A large cackle rose out of the man and Lance screamed before he fell into darkness.

…

At first he thought he’d died. That would’ve been a better fate than whatever this torture was. 

Lance awoke with a gasp and tried to jump up, but he was strapped to a chair. He began to panic again and felt pain in his head. He didn’t bother to scream because part of him knew that that wouldn’t help at all. His eyes darted around the room, trying to get an idea of where he was. Hospital room, not incredibly familiar or even similar to the others he’d seen earlier on. He hung his head for a bit, panting like he had just run a mile. He was shaking as the man he had seen before ending up in the room entered through the door in the distance. 

“Finally, you’re awake!” He smiled and that smile made Lance cringe in disgust. It was so thin and the man’s teeth were jagged; the grin was stretched to where it was just so unnatural and unsettling. “Now, time to begin our little experiment.”

Lance’s eyes widened as the man approached him. He had black hair that sometimes covered his face, which he wore circle-framed glasses on as if that would distract from his disturbing smile, and he wore a purple sweater and crimson pants that were somewhat obscured by the long, black and leathery-looking apron he wore. It had pockets with a myriad of medical tools stocked in them… And a hammer. His shoes caught Lance’s eyes for some reason as well. They were steel-toed boots, but the metal was on the outside and had clear bloodstains near the bottoms. They made loud clicking noises as he walked. 

“Are you Malachi?” Lance asked in a low, panicked voice.  
“Yes!” He raised his arms up and flopped them down in a dramatic movement. “I see you’ve read my note- that’s really good. So, who are you? Make your intro as lengthy as you want, I have all the time in the world.”

The way he extended certain words made Lance shiver for reasons unknown, Malachi exuded a creepy demeanor and way to well. It was like he was acting for a part that required him to be an absolute creep, except he wasn’t acting. 

“I’m Lance Veers. I run a blog-”

“Do you take care of your hands?” Malachi chimed in, his smile was now a curious pouty-look with his head tilted. 

“I- what?” 

“Do you take care of them? Washing and making sure that they’re nice and pretty.” Malachi’s eyes widened under his glasses. “They certainly look nice.”

“I-I… I don’t understand…” Lance looked away from him for a second until he heard a thump and snapped his head back. “What are you doing?”

Malachi was on his knees and almost between Lance’s knees due to their proximity. He took the bonds that were holding his hand down at the wrist and removed them, taking it into his hands. He looked absolutely stunned as he examined it, turning it and bending Lance’s fingers. He almost tore his hand away but he was paralyzed with shock and fear as the man kept examining his hand. 

“What are you doing?” Lance asked shakily. Malachi didn’t respond, except for a few deep breaths. “Malachi, what are you doing?”

Malachi breathed heavily and began caressing Lance’s hand, like he was giving it a massage but a really bad one. He seemed entranced by it as he kept caressing it.

“Your h-hand is v-very nice, Lance.” He exhaled, almost like it was a struggle to talk while absolutely focused on the hand. 

Lance cringed at Malachi saying his name and tried to pull his hand away. That was, until Malachi grabbed his wrist with surprising strength and held it there. Lance gasped, still trying to pull his hand away until Malachi’s grip couldn’t be resisted. 

“Do not ruin this for me, Lance.” Malachi said in a low voice as he stared Lance dead in the eyes. 

He went back to caressing the hand, which felt insanely invasive to Lance despite it only being his hand. Malachi’s jaw hung slightly open and his mouth was tilted in a small grin, saliva began to drip from the side of his mouth. He just… sat there, his face near Lance’s hand as he continued to caress his hand for too long of a time. It felt like hours to Lance, who just sat and cringed at the current situation. 

Eventually (thank god), Malachi stopped and Lance almost felt relief as the man rose to his feet. He finally felt good when the man mumbled something that sounded like ‘I have to go and take care of something’ and ran from the room while making strange noises. He failed to notice that he’d left Lance’s arm untied, so he was able to successfully get out of his bonds (which weren’t even tied that well to begin with) and make his way out into the hallway. 

‘I just need to get to the elevator and go back to the first floor’ Lance thought as he walked quickly but also as quietly as he could through the hallway. ‘I can meet back up with Tim and see if he knows where an exit is.’

He looked around warily, hoping that whatever Malachi was doing would last long enough that he could escape. He was proven incredibly incorrect when he felt an arm wrap around him and then pull him away from the almost in-reach elevator. 

“No no no no no NO!” Lance screamed and struggled as he felt hot breaths on his neck and heard the audible sound of Malachi panting. 

“I want you here Lance, I’m gonna keep you and your nice hands here.” Malachi whispered in a voice that almost seemed like it was trembling, but not in fear. “The other one left me for another floor even after I killed her. I won’t let you go Lance, I’ll never let you go…”

“You need to fucking LET ME GO!” Lance pushed away from Malachi and almost got out but his grip was strong. “I don’t wanna be a part of your creepy hand orgy or whatever!”

Suddenly, he was on the ground with Malachi on top of him. He was pinned down and had no chance of escape. Malachi took out an ice pick and looked Lance in the eyes. He raised the ice pick, panting, his glasses were tilted a bit to the side. It could’ve looked cute if it wasn’t him, but unfortunately it was.

“The doctor is in, Lance,” Malachi breathed out and plunged the ice pick down. “I’LL NEVER LET YOU GET AWAY FROM ME!”

Lance screamed as he felt the pain of the ice pick piercing his forehead. It broke through his skin and then his skull as his screams died out. Then, he saw himself. He saw his corpse. He was standing, looking at the scene unfolding before him. Malachi was repeatedly plunging the ice pick into Lance’s forehead. He didn’t feel the pain, but he did feel a small tingling on his forehead. He raised his hand up and placed it on the space. It felt.. Off. He moved his fingers around, no pain, and he felt a hole of some sort. Actually, several holes. They were slightly overlapping so it felt a bit messy and he lowered his hand. It was bloody. 

“Am I dead?” He said out loud, staring at his hand. 

Malachi stopped his stabbing of the corpse and looked at Lance. 

“You’re here!” He said excitedly as he stepped up and away from the body. “Don’t leave me like the others, Lance, please.”

Lance’s attention was off of his head and now on Malachi. 

“Am I… actually dead?” He questioned him. “And how can you see me if I am a ghost?”  
“That’s just how this hospital works.” Malachi grinned that creepy, thin grin again. “I don’t even know if I’m dead or not. If I'm still alive in some way, then I haven't aged a day since I got here.”

Lance exhaled deeply, taking in everything again. His mutilated corpse on the ground, the insane man who was asking him to stay with him forever, and the fact that he now had a head wound that didn’t give him any sort of pain. He walked over to his body.

“Oh, I can take care of that for you.” Malachi said. He seemed suddenly calmer than he was before, it was like he had completely changed emotions. “I’ll put it somewhere else.”

Lance looked at him and then at the corpse. 

“Okay…” He walked away from it. “What do I do now?”

Malachi’s personality flipped like a light switch at that moment, because he was now just like he was before- nearly drooling and holding his face in his hands while grinning widely.

“Stay with me! Please, please Lance!” His eyes narrowed. “I’ll take good care of you.”

Lance thought for a second. If he was a ghost, Malachi couldn’t possibly hurt him or kill him again. Maybe he could do cool ghost stuff like floating and passing through walls! He decided that it wouldn’t completely hurt to stay on the floor, at least if Malachi wasn’t going to try and murder him again. 

“Fine,” He replied, Malachi’s smile grew and he threw himself around Lance. “But no creepy hand stuff or tying me to chairs-”

“Are other objects still acceptable?” Malachi asked, wrapped around Lance with his head near Lance’s chest despite the fact that he was taller than him. 

“Uh, no.” Lance replied, cringing. “J-just don’t tie me to anything and please don’t caress my hands-”

“Is caressing other parts of the body acceptable?” Malachi asked again, panting.

“For Christ’s sake, no.” Lance gave a disappointed sigh. “Can you tone the creepiness down just a bit?”

“I’ll try my best…” Malachi finally let the other man go and straightened himself up. “Now, let’s go!”

They walked away, Malachi giving Lance detailed information on almost all of the rooms on the floor while also giving way too many personal details out as well. Lance sighed and felt his head again. He was in a place that was nearly Hell itself.


	2. The Charles Run

December 20, 2011:

It was snowing; Cold and ruthless. The hospital stood tall through it, like it couldn’t feel the cold and was telling everyone and everything that it was a god, that it would survive anything. Maybe a part of it was alive, maybe it heard and saw everything both inside of it and out in the world, and maybe it wanted to truly live in a different form. It was dark, barely contrasting against the plummeting snow. 

Charles Torquan, 27 years old. He was a cryptozoologist who was looking for monsters. Of course, he went to the hospital. His thick coat protected him from the onslaught of snow as he slowly made his way to the hospital entrance. He kept a notebook and a Polaroid camera in the jacket's large pockets, he felt like a normal phone camera wouldn’t make anything show up. He was at the entrance, pausing for a second before pushing the door open. Groaning and straining, he got inside. It was warm, he didn’t let it get to him. 

He sighed, taking out his camera. After snapping a few pictures of the lobby, he turned to the entrance. It was gone, which he took notice of. His breath hitched as he felt anxiety building. He looked at the photos after putting his Polaroid away. They would’ve looked normal, but there was a dark shadow in each one. He nearly choked when he heard a voice. 

“Who are you?”

Turning, he saw a tall man. He was taller than anybody that Charles had ever seen and he looked like a skeleton draped in black robes. 

“I asked you a question,” he spoke again. “Who are you?”

Charles put the photos back and gathered his thoughts. The man looked down on him before leaning over. 

“Introduce yourself.” He commanded. Charles was shaking. 

“Charles…” He whispered out. “My name… is Charles.”

“Wonderful, you got more than one word out.” The man smirked. “I am Tim, the caretaker. What is your occupation?”

“I-I-I’m a cryptozoologist.” He replied, he felt like an idiot just for naming his profession. It wasn’t something normal and he felt a pang of shame at just saying what he liked doing. “I study cryptids and monsters.”

Tim was still smirking. Charles felt himself shaking down into his bones.

“How interesting,” Tim replied in his low voice. “Would you like a tour?”

Charles choked in shock at the question. He wondered why he was so surprised at it. There was nothing abnormal about a tour, he took tons of them before in strange places. It was just something you did when you were in a new place.

“T-that would be nice.” Charles replied quietly. 

“I can’t hear you,” Tim said sternly. “Speak louder, Charles.”

Charles felt his face grow hot and he trembled from embarrassment. This skeleton of a man was basically commanding him and that gave him a large mix of emotions that he couldn’t quite point out. 

“I-I said that it would be nice.” He looked at Tim, tilting his face upwards because of Tim’s insane height. “I-I’ll take y-your tour.”

Tim chuckled quietly for some reason, which Charles heard. He felt like this man was human, but he was also not because he’d never seen anybody like him. Insanely tall and thin, unnatural eyes, depressed features that looked more like a skeleton than anything that a human could possess- but his personality felt human. Tim straightened himself up and walked to the doors, talking about them as he did.

“Do you want to go to the basement, Charles?” He asked, it was like he enjoyed saying his name and it only slightly scared Charles. 

“Yes.” That was all he said. 

Tim walked to the basement door, rotting wood with a rusty sign and handle. He opened it and gestured for Charles to go in. 

“I-” Charles attempted to say something because he wasn’t about to go into a dark abyss that could probably kill him, but Tim’s eyes stared daggers into his soul and he felt no worry but also a strange mix of unidentifiable emotions. 

He went down into the basement. The stairs felt slippery and he held the wall for some sort of stability as he slowly walked down. He could feel Tim right behind him, not touching him but almost close enough. He heard a splash and felt coldness on his feet and he stopped abruptly. Tim wasn’t expecting it and bumped into him, pushing him forward. Charles yelped in surprise but then choked on his breath when Tim grabbed him by his hood and pulled him back, wrapping a thin, black veiled arm around his collar. Charles’ face went even redder and he stuttered out the first thing he could think of.

“What’s down there?” He felt his glasses slipping off and hurriedly pushed them back up. 

“Water.” Tim replied, beginning to remove his arm from around Charles, who grabbed his arm and held it around him. 

“I don’t want to fall.” He muttered quickly. 

There was a distant splashing heard in the dark room. Tim’s eyes widened slightly as the sound echoed. He sighed and put his hand on Charles’ back. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered in Charles’ ear. “I hope you’ll forgive me for this, I am only doing my job.”

Before he could get a word out, Tim pushed him into the abyss after swiftly removing his arm from around him. He watched as the short man fell into the water with a loud splash, his coat soaking up the liquid and pulling him down as he attempted to reach the stairs. The stairs seemed to end right at the water’s edge and Charles couldn’t muster the strength to pull himself up onto them. He kept taking deep, loud breaths as he flailed about until he felt a cold, stony hand grip his foot. He was pulled under the water as he struggled with his coat zipper, trying to get it off of himself to maybe save him even though it was too late. Before he was pulled under the water, he looked up at Tim and saw his silhouette against the faint light coming from the top of the stairs. He also saw another silhouette that was smaller. He could’ve sworn he heard a child’s voice before he only heard nothing and breathed in water. He screamed and struggled against whatever was gripping him and he felt his chest tighten as he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get any air. He felt his eyes close as he finally fell away from it all.

…

He could breathe again, his chest felt tighter but he could breathe. It felt like wetness and plants and slimy things everywhere. His skin felt cold and clammy and like there were vines growing on him. He rubbed his arms vigorously but the feeling didn’t go away. He barely felt any warmth. He opened his eyes. It was really dark, but he could make out what looked to be glow sticks illuminating plants and stone formations. The ground was broken tile and plants were growing from almost every orifice while the glow sticks were giving off pale, multicoloured lights. As his eyes adjusted to the low light, he saw a couple of statues. They were gray and cracked, some with missing limbs or large cracks. They all had stone clothes, most resembled Greek togas, draped over their forms and their hair differed from each one but it all looked strangely human. Their faces were sad, like they were screaming and wailing for eternity. Vines and algae grew on them and it almost made them look beautiful. Charles felt his skin grow colder but it didn’t bother him. Then, he could hear the sound of stone scraping against tile.


	3. The Mabel Run

May 30, 1994:

Everything was nice, it was summertime. The trees around the hospital were blossoming with flowers and new leaves. The beauty on the outside did not match the interior however. There were the sounds of children running and screaming.

Mable Calnman, 11 years old. She was running, but not because she wanted to. They were chasing her, and ‘they’ were a few of the children that ruthlessly bullied her at her school. She was still only in elementary school, but her classmates were meaner than she’d ever seen anybody before. She feared school because of them; sometimes she even feared going outside. 

She ran through the woods, branches and plants scraping against her until she finally came to the hospital in it’s clearing. The hospital was deteriorating, but it was still somewhat new. The glass doors weren’t cracked or broken and she hurried to them. She could hear the kids approaching her and yelling, she ignored them as the door closed behind her. They reached the doors and began pounding on them, Mabel whimpered and closed her eyes. 

The pounding ceased, and she opened her eyes again. There weren’t doors anymore, just a wall. Her eyes began to water as she realized she was trapped. She sat on the ground and pulled her knees to her chest, trying not to cry like so many times before. Then, she heard a voice, it reminded her of her parents in a way. 

“Are you alright, child?”

She sniffed and turned her head. She could see a tall man dressed in black, his face obscured by his long hair. 

“W-who are you?” She asked quietly. 

“I’m Tim, the caretaker of the hospital.” He replied with a soft tone. “Why have you come here?”

“I was being ch-chased… By some kids from my school…” Mabel looked down. “Could you help me?”

“I can try my best. Please, follow me.” Tim watched as she stood. “What is your name?”

“Mabel.” She replied, completely ignoring her parent’s warnings about stranger danger. “Am I safe here?”

“Yes, I’ll take you to a place where you will be guaranteed safety forever.” Tim guided her to the elevator room. “We’ll make sure that nobody can ever hurt you again.”

Mabel smiled a bit, wiping her tears away as she followed Tim onto the elevator. He reminded her of her parents, she trusted him and she knew that she could.   
They rode the elevator up for a while, Mabel told Tim about the kids from school and what they did to her. They didn’t just pick on her, they were mean to a few other students who looked similar to her too, but she was one of the ones they targeted the most. 

“They t-throw stuff at us, take our stuff, they p-pull my hair a lot...” She almost started crying but controlled it. “My parents t-tried to get m-my school to stop them, but they didn’t do anything.”

Tim’s heart ached for the girl, he felt himself almost begin to cry just at her immense sadness. He felt true regret for once in his existence, because she would have to die. Her physical form would have to die, at least. That was what he had to do, he couldn’t go back on the promises he made- everybody who enters the hospital dies unless they can be useful. The child couldn’t be of any use to the hospital, Tim had to keep her with him and keep her safe. 

The elevator stopped and they left it. The room was a light pink, though not incredibly bright, and was decorated with circus-themed things. There were paintings of freakshow members, plush clown dolls, a carousel horse, and other various items. In the middle of the room sat a white bed with dotted sheets. A creature sat on the bed. 

“W-what is that?” Mabel asked quietly. 

“That is Onaya, she’ll help in making sure that you’re safe.” Tim replied softly. “Just go up to her and tell her what you want.”

Mabel cautiously approached the clown, who had long pink hair and was decorated in a striped suit with big pom poms on the front. Onaya had a wide grin and red makeup. Her eyes looked like they were shut close in an expression of happiness. She held a wooden sign that read ‘WISH GRANTER’ in red paint. Mabel stood at the side of the bed, Onaya turned to face her and she jumped, almost screaming. 

“Just tell her what you want and you’ll be fine, Mabel.” Tim said from farther away. 

Mabel looked at Onaya, who was looming over her, and shut her eyes.

“I-I wanna be safe… I wanna stay with Tim and be safe and not have to go back to school.” She said, keeping her eyes shut and her head tilted slightly away from Onaya as she waited.   
“Your wish shall be granted…” A voice said, it was higher pitched and let out a small giggle after speaking. 

Mabel opened her eyes.

She was next to Tim again and Onaya was gone. 

“A-Am I safe now?” She asked, even though deep down she already knew the answer to it.

Tim squatted down to look at her, his appearance didn’t scare her like it had done to countless others. In his hollow features she knew that he would protect her.

“You will always be safe as long as I am here, child.” Tim replied, hugging her.


	4. The Mettian Run

February 11, 1973:

The tree branches swayed in the wind as spring approached the town. The Parchment-Cambrione Hospital had only been abandoned a few years prior and it was beginning to gain rumours and legends. This, of course, was going to attract risk-taking folks who wanted to show off how courageous they were. Nobody ever knew how much they were getting into when they went inside, but after a certain point people stopped questioning why people would disappear when they went to it. Since most of the victims were teenagers, many just assumed they ran away. If only they knew the truth.

Mettian Uvanite, a rebellious 17-year old who hung around people that were clearly not good influences, was enroute to the newly abandoned hospital and biggest urban legend of her town. 

She trudged through the forest to the hospital, her ‘friends’ yelling at her from the treeline about how she was too much of a coward to actually go in. 

“You’re probably just gonna run away when you get the chance!” One of them shouted at her.

“Oh really?” She turned around. “Why don’t ya come down here and watch me go into the hospital, asshole!”

The guy who yelled at her walked forwards. Snickering to himself.

“Okay sure, I’ll stand outside and make sure that you go in.” He crossed his arms and smirked. “We wouldn’t want a chicken hanging out with us, ha!”

Mettian scowled and went toward the building, swinging open the glass doors and flipping everybody off as she entered. As soon as the door closed, she turned around and was faced with a tall, looming shadow. She panicked, swivelling around and running, only to hit a wall where the doors used to be. 

“Who are you and what is your occupation?” The dark figure asked. 

“Who the hell are you, you weirdo!” Mettian yelled at him.

He leaned down, showing her his hollowed and skeletal face.

“I am Tim, the caretaker of this hospital.” He said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Now, who are you?”

Mettian was taken aback by how the man seemed to immediately match her in annoyance level, but she wasn’t going to just become a nice person after only a few minutes of being there.

“I’m Mettian Uvanite, now I need, like, a souvenir or something to prove that I was here.” She put her hands on her hips, barely scared of the tall man before her. 

“I do not have any souvenirs, but would you perhaps like a tour?” Tim attempted to be nice, he had to do his job with this one and he could tell that it would be difficult. “You might find something to your liking.”

“Ugh, fine.” Mettian groaned. “Take me wherever, just don’t make it boring or I’ll fall asleep and I don’t wanna fall asleep in a dump like this.”

Tim sighed, slightly angrier than he was before, and led Mettian to the elevator room. They boarded the elevator and began to ride up, Mettian complaining the entire time. The elevator finally reached the floor Tim chose and he almost pushed Mettian out, but stopped himself. 

“Follow me, you don’t want to get lost.” Tim said as he walked out of the door in front of the elevator. 

“I doubt that, this place can’t possibly be that big-” Mettian said right as she stepped out of the door and was hit with a chilling wind. “Wh-what is this?”

They were in a forest, Tim was grinning but Mettian couldn’t see it. Tim began to walk into the trees and Mettian followed.

“What is this, some kinda joke?” She asked angrily. “There can’t just be a forest inside of a building, that isn’t possible!”

“Oh, well it’s possible in here.” Tim replied as they continued walking.

Soon enough, they could see lights in the distance- orange lights like balls of fire. Tim’s smile grew because he knew exactly what he would be getting the annoying girl into. 

The lights grew closer and soon, they came to their source. It was a large, church-like building that was made of bricks and had lanterns that gave off the orange lights they saw in the distance earlier. Muffled voices could be heard from the outside and Tim simply walked up to the wooden doors that seemed even larger than he was, and knocked.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The voices inside seemed to stop and footsteps were heard, they neared the door before it opened to reveal another man on the inside of the elaborate building. He had orange hair and was dressed in an outfit similar to that of a priest. The thing that stuck out the most was his eye- or rather lack thereof. He wore a white, bandaged eye patch over one of his eyes, and he looked up at Tim with his single eye. 

“Tim!” He greeted him happily. “It’s wonderful to see you again, please, come in.”

“It’s nice to see you as well, Keller.” Tim replied. “I’ve brought a guest with me.”

Keller perked up at this, smiling even more than he did before. He allowed them to walk in and closed the door afterwards. There was a giant dining hall with various people sitting at long tables. They all looked at Tim and Mettian as Keller led them through a hallway. 

“So, tell me about the guest you’ve brought,” Keller walked alongside them down a dimly lit hall. “What is your name, child?”

Mettian begrudgingly shook his hand and answered in her usual rude tone.

“I’m Mettian, what happened to your eye?” She asked in a condescending way. “It looks freaky.”

“I was a necessary sacrifice, Mettian.” Keller replied, leading her and Tim into an almost dark and reddish room. “So, is the guest planning to stay with us? Or will you deal with them yourself?”

“You can have her, I know that after a few days this floor will grow on her.” Tim replied.

“Wait what?” Mettian interjected. “I’m not staying in this creepy place! You can’t just make me stay here!”

Tim turned to Mettian, his eyes staring her down. It felt like her soul was being stabbed. To make it even scarier to her, Keller wasn’t smiling anymore. He’d been happy just before she spoke, but now that she was rejecting the idea of staying, his face was seemingly paler and more hollow. It was like a deep hatred towards her was growing within him. 

“You just need to stay a few days, then you’ll be able to see how nice this place is.” Tim almost ordered. “Keller will show you to your room.”

“I will, but before that you should get a general tour.” Keller seemed to get slightly happier as he spoke. “Tim, would you like to accompany us?”

“Oh, no. I have business to attend to.” Tim replied. “I think that you can handle her on your own though. Goodbye for now, I’ll check back in with you the next time I get the chance.”

Tim began to turn away, but Keller grabbed his dark, slightly tattered sleeve. 

“Hm? What is it?” 

“I haven’t seen you in quite some time, so I’d like to give you something.” Keller said, his eyes looking away somewhat, like he was nervous.

“And what would that be?” Tim replied, tilting his head slightly. 

Keller stepped closer and hugged him- thought it was more like he was hugging his legs. Tim lowered himself so that he and Keller could actually hug on the same height level. Mettain stood near them, watching as they hugged for what seemed like way too long for her likings. 

“Okay, are you done yet? What are you, married or something?” She piped up.

Keller and Tim moved away from each other and looked at Mettian.

“A-anyways, I’ll be going.” Tim said. “Goodbye, Keller.”

“Goodbye Tim.”

As Tim walked away, Keller turned to Mettian.

“So, you’re my newest guest. I’ll show you around now, so please try to keep up.” Keller smiled and grabbed Mettian’s hand, leading her out of the room and through another hallway. Soon, they reached the dining hall that they first encountered and Mettian ripped her hand from Keller’s grip. 

“This is the dining hall, and that-” He pointed to a small stage that had curtains covering most of it. “Is the presentation stage. It’s where I lead our ceremonies.’’

“Ceremonies? What are you, a church?” Mettian asked sarcastically. 

“That’s exactly what we are! You are very perceptive.” Keller smiled, clearly not picking up or just ignoring the sarcasm. “We are the Clover Church, though we have several other names, so that’s why we look like one.”

Mettian was silent, feeling more anxious than she did before because of the new discovery. The man didn’t seem like a very trustworthy religious leader, he was downright creepy. 

“So, where does everybody stay?” She asked, wanting to get away from the subject of them being a church. “I heard that I’d get a room or something.”

Keller motioned for her to follow him and she did, they went down yet another dimly lit hallway and soon came to a line of doors on both sides of the hallway.

“These are the rooms, you’ll get one of the ones in the front, those are the vacant ones.” 

“Oh, That’s… nice! Yeah, that’s nice.” She replied, wanting to get away as quickly as possible.

“Now, we’ll go back to the dining hall to eat, pray, and then it will be time for bed.” Keller led her away from the rooms and back to the dining hall, which still had the other people there.

“Take a seat, you can eat as much as you want.” Keller sat down at a table and Mettian sat beside him. “Segrid gives us our food, and because of your arrival, we’re going to get even more!” 

“W-who is Segrid?” Mettian nervously fidgeted with one of her braids. 

“They are our ruler, they give us what we need to survive and we worship them in return.” Keller replied, still in a joyous tone. “We just have to make sacrifices every once in a while, but aren’t sacrifices a part of life?”

Mettian felt uneasy as she ate, trying to stomach the surprisingly good food despite her body giving her constant waves of nausea. Eventually, she was able to go to her room and with a ‘goodnight, Clover Children!’ from Keller, she slipped into the bed and attempted to sleep her discomfort away. 

In the morning, she was awoken by a ringing bell. She felt like she was in a warm, heavenly place as she woke up and the bell ringing surprisingly didn’t annoy her as much as it should’ve. She felt less angry, like she was resolved of all her worries from the night before. As the days passed, she felt herself taking a liking to Keller and the other members of the Clover Church. The beds felt nice, the food was exceptionally good, and everybody seemed happy and friendly all the time. It was like there were no worries at all. It was just a cycle of eating, sleeping, mingling and worshipping. Soon enough, after about three or four days (she couldn’t really keep track anymore, time was becoming something she cared about less) Keller met with her after the day's lunch to talk. 

“Mettian, I must ask you a question!” He exclaimed.

“What do you need, Keller?” She responded without rudeness in her tone, she was actually happy to talk to him- much happier than when she first met him. 

“Well, ever since you first arrived, I’ve seen how much you’ve been enjoying our group. The question I must ask is… Do you want to fully become part of the Clover Church?” He wasn’t smiling, but she knew that he wasn’t mad at her. “You’ll just have to make a sacrifice, and you must be ready to do that.”

Mettian paused, remembering the events of the past few days. She liked it there and wanted to stay. She wouldn’t be able to stay anywhere else. The building was like paradise, and she knew her answer already.

“Yes, I will make the sacrifice.” 

Keller clapped happily and began smiling again.

“Ooooh how perfect! Segrid will be very pleased!” Keller almost sang. “We can hold the ceremony tonight, it will be splendid!”

Mettian smiled, but something within her stirred. It told her that her choice was wrong, she made a mistake and that she was going to regret everything.  
She ignored the feeling. 

The hours seemed to pass slowly, Mettian was anxious as she awaited Keller’s announcement for the ceremony. Then, it began. 

Keller’s voice was heard from above, telling everybody to gather in the dining hall. Once everybody entered. The curtains on the stage opened to reveal Keller, who was standing next to a stone table with a bucket full of strange objects next to it. 

“Hello, Clover Children!” Keller exclaimed. “Tonight, we will be welcoming our newest member of the church- Mettian Uvunite!”

He waved at her and motioned to join him on the stage, which she did. He pulled a chair out from the darkness behind him and had her sit on it.

“Now, with welcoming a new member, they must be initiated. Because of this, they must sacrifice something.” He turned to Mettian and took her hand in his. “You will get to choose what you are willing to give to Segrid and then I will help you in the sacrifice. You will not have to go through it alone.”

Mettian felt the uneasiness bubbling inside of her and it increased a fair amount when she finally noticed something about Keller that she had failed to see before. Whether it was because of his long sleeves and robe that mostly obscured his limbs, or just because of her own stupidity, she had failed to see the one thing that would’ve gotten her to leave when she still had the chance-  
Several of his fingers were missing.

Something in her mind finally clicked and she realized that that was what the sacrifice was. This man had sacrificed his own fingers to become the leader of this group. If he had sacrificed his fingers, what had the others sacrificed? Mettian had seen several members with only one arm or leg, a few using prosthetics, but she had brushed it off as just them being regular people who had lost their limbs- amputees or people with prosthetics weren’t abnormal. Everything was clicking in her mind and she was realizing how bad of a situation this actually was but it was too late. 

“Have you made your choice, Mettian?” Keller asked. “We can’t wait all night, I’m afraid.”

Mettian had spaced out for long enough that she hadn’t realized that Keller had removed his eye patch. 

“Y-your eye!” she exclaimed suddenly, she couldn’t think straight after realizing her situation. 

His eye was just a black socket, there was no eyeball in it. 

“Ah, my sacrifice…” His eye looked upwards, like he was reminiscing on something happy. “That was part of my sacrifice, Segrid took my eye for their collection. However, we have recently completed what Segrid set us to make!”

“A-and what w-was that?” Mettian pressed on, still fearing for what was soon to come. 

“I shall show you, it is customary to use it for every ritual- to honour them.” He bent down and took a box from the darkness. 

He placed the box on the table, the crowd of church members made sounds of joy and pleasure as he opened it and reached inside. He pulled out what looked to be… An eyeball. 

“This…” He paused, breathing heavily as he began to insert the eye into his empty socket. “...Is the Eye of Segrid!”

The crowd cheered him on and he looked at Mettian, smiling. The eye was like a fake eye, almost, but it had eight pupils that melded together into what would probably be part of a trypophobic’s nightmares. 

“I was the one destined to lead the Clover Church, to spread the word of Segrid!” He raised his arms like he was ascending. “Now, Mettian, what will you sacrifice- you must make your choice quickly or else we’ll just have to go with all of you. However, that would truly be the best sacrifice for such a divine being!”

Mettian pushed her urge to run down inside of her, she couldn't escape from this place no matter how hard she tried. 

“I’ll sacrifice… My ring fingers.” She stared down at her hands, they were thin and shaking slightly in fear. “Take them… For y-your Clover C-cult…”

She expected that name to elicit a reaction of anger or something similar to it- calling Keller’s ‘church’ a cult should’ve made him hate her, but instead it got another reaction. 

“Ah, I see you know us by that name as well,” Keller grabbed the bucket from under the table. “Being a cult is nothing to be ashamed of, it just means that you are even more dedicated to your idol than anybody else could ever be. That isn’t something to hate.”

He rummaged through the bucket and soon pulled out a small saw, and looked at Mettian. Both of the eyes moved somehow, the eight-pupiled eye stared directly into her soul and she shivered as she felt Keller’s hand grip her wrist and press her arm onto the table. She couldn’t fight against it, and soon the feeling of complete comfort washed over her. She felt carefree and comfortable again, like she had the days prior, as Keller began to saw into her hand. The pain was excruciating, but she didn’t scream. Tears streamed down her face like waterfalls as he sawed off her finger. Eventually, the first hand was done and Keller laid the finger nearby on the table. He took a bandage from the bucket and wrapped up her hand. He then moved onto the other one, sawing off that finger as well as Mettian continued to cry. Then, it was over.

Mettian didn’t remember how it ended after the second finger was cut off, she just knew that she was in her bed, resting. Blood was soaking into the bandages as she fell asleep again.

She felt warm and happy, she couldn’t wait for the next day.


	5. The Daniel Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally

August 16, 1979:

It’s a cold, dreary day. The tall trees that surround the hospital are bare, trembling in the faint breeze. A man slowly approaches the hospital, tired and aching. His name- Dr. Daniel Cambrione, who worked at the hospital before it closed years ago. He was a dentist, a dentist who really liked teeth. 

He felt nearly like a husk, as though he wasn’t coming back of his own volition. As he felt his feet move, almost on their own, he found himself entering the hospital. Things were beginning to rot away, mold and plants grew in between the tiled floors and the cracks in the wall dripped strange fluid. He made his way, almost mindlessly, to the elevator. As he stepped in, a sudden voice brought him back to reality.

“Going up?” someone asked with a dry and humorous tone.

Daniel looked up, and up, and up, to see the tall man looking down at him. He was so pale, with long black hair and a robe just as dark. He looked as though death itself had become a tangible being/ And Daniel looked at this man, his mouth going dry and his limbs going numb. 

“Go on Dan, you need to atone.” The man said, all humour from his voice gone.

“I’ll be going, but I will not atone.” 

And so he went- up or down? Nobody knows which way the elevator goes. 

The tall man, who we know as Tim, stood and watched. He didn’t bother to follow Daniel, this wasn’t his job to do. 

He stayed on the elevator as it moved, it was a while before it stopped. He exited it and stepped onto the 7th floor- where he used to work. Everything was the same is it used to be, the only differences being everything beginning to rot away. He walked further down the hallway in front of him and it began to seem as though it stretched on forever, he could see no end to it. He went on and on, still not reaching the end. As he continued walking, he began to hear sounds- screams, wails, all different sounds of agony. The noises of pain pleased him, so he continued on his way as they got more and more frequent. He nearly forgot where he was for a bit, a strange joy clouded his mind and his breath nearly caught in his throat as he continued. 

Then, he was stopped in his tracks. He focused his eyes and saw a large, dark shadow looming over him. The noises he was enjoying had ceased and it was all silent, like he was in a quiet void. 

“Do you know true fear? Do you know true pain? Do you remember what you have done?” A voice, both deep and shallow, high and low, spoke to him through no mouth. “You must pay your debt, Daniel.”

All of his pleasure turned to fear and he turned on his heels and ran. He ran down the hallway but it felt like it was getting longer, like it would never stop. No matter how much he ran, he couldn’t escape it. Eventually he stopped, either from exhaustion or he finally realized that he couldn’t escape. 

He felt his life flashing before him and panic building as he heard something approaching him. He remembered it all… Getting the job, working for years, the teeth, covering up what he had done, the bloody teeth…

So many teeth… and they were all his. He still had them, all those years later. His collection hadn’t grown after he left the job but that was the least of his concerns now. 

The darkness was taking up all of his vision, it was all he could see. He no longer had anywhere to go, the hallway behind him was a wall now. He realized that he couldn’t do anything anymore, all he could do was stand there. He felt everything begin to get warmer.

“Atone. Atone. Atone. Atone…” Thousands of voices chanted in unison as he felt the room get even warmer and looked down to see sparks at his feet.

Flames started up and suddenly he couldn’t move, no matter how hard he tried. The darkness stared at him, though it had no eyes, as the fire burned through his clothes and began to char his skin. He screamed, pure pain coursing through his body as his flesh was charred and the heat burned away at his nerve endings. His mind was blank except for the desire to die- and then the realization that he should’ve died. As the flames rose up his body, he felt them reach his head and his throat began to tighten up. His screams became choked and hoarse and his eyes shot open when he felt an icy chill inside of his skin. It felt like something was burrowing it’s way into him- under his skin, inside of his bones, around his muscles. He felt both cold and hot as an icy chill filled his veins while flames continued to lick at his flesh. He let out a final scream of pure agony and died, his limp body collapsing onto the ground below. 

All the flames went out, leaving ash and embers around the scorched body. He awoke, feeling a strange warmth on his skin and a numbness inside of himself. He felt the urge to scratch his skin off, he looked at himself and gazed upon his skin- it was now a sickly shade of light grey, splotched with dark spots. He looked up and saw his body, laying limply, in front of him. 

Then, it began to pulsate. 

And right before his eyes, his corpse began to lift itself up, flesh going from coal black to a light corpse-like grey shade. The clothes didn’t change, they stayed blackened and charred, bits burned off. The body let out a hoarse groan, bones cracking as it stretched as though it just woke up from a nap. It looked at him, glasses practically melted to its face and hair and eyebrows charred at the ends. It removed the glasses and looked at him, the eyes were burned away holes- he didn’t even remember his eyes bursting from the heat but maybe that was for the better. 

The corpse smiled, and Daniel only screamed.


End file.
